Cherishing and Respecting One’s Fertility

Discussions about ending marital fertility by vasectomy or tubal ligation, even among Catholics, can often be nonchalant as if this procedure is no big deal with no moral implications. Such an attitude is likely the product of a culture … [Read more...]

Preaching the Heart of the Gospel

Although I grew up in a nominally Catholic home, neither of my parents was particularly religious. We attended Sunday Mass occasionally as a family, but as we got older the demands of family life, sports, and other obligations quickly began … [Read more...]

Wisdom for Another School Year

As my holy namesake proclaimed, “It is good for us to be here” (Mt 17:4). So, what are we facing in our upcoming Catholic school year? Our Catholic Education Foundation has received consistent input from teachers, administrators, parents, an … [Read more...]

What Direction Does the Church Give to Homilists?

Every Catholic has an opinion about how homilies ought to be preached. And while such personal observations and insights can be helpful, they do not provide a solid foundation upon which to build a sound understanding of what the substance … [Read more...]

The Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Needed Sacrament

Do you often look out over your congregation assembled for Mass, and wonder where and when the majority go to Confession? Do you, bishop . . . priest . . . deacon . . . inform your parishioners regularly that they have an obligation to … [Read more...]

The Gift of the Mind: Scholars and Saints

If one thing characterized priesthood fifty years ago (especially in Europe, even if less so here), it was the priest as a man of learning, that is, possessing a broad grasp of knowledge, a true Renaissance man — an in-depth knowledge of a f … [Read more...]

Questions Answered

January 2014

What do you say to a non-Catholic man who received questionable advice from a priest about his marriage to a Catholic woman, and now wants to become Catholic as well? How engaged should the priest be in the religious education of the p … [Read more...]

Should homilies offer systematic instruction?

June 2013 Editorial

...there has been, in my view, a serious neglect of instruction of the faithful in the fundamentals of the Catholic faith in a systematic way in most of our parishes. Recently a priest friend asked me, “How can we teach the faith during S … [Read more...]